Beauty and The Beast
by Happily Ever Never
Summary: Naruto frowned. “Must there be a price?” “Always. There is always a price in the story my lord, for it sets the way for a happy ending” Beauty and the Beast with a Naruto twist.


Author note: (makes sense if you have read my profile. You can choose to ignore it if you wish)

Lady Rouge hands you a tattered green leather book before making her way back to her ancient typewriter.

"Beauty and the Beast with an Anime twist. And don't go correcting my fable knowledge either!" Lady Rouge shoots a look in the direction of the children's fairytale books resting on her cherry wood shelves.

"There is more than one version of a beauty and untameable beast; this was derived from many sources. At the same time it's original, so don't go expecting the same events and endings. Oh and Disney influence is there too of course"

Lady Rouge ignores the grunt from her Pigmy apprentice Skrit who is currently gathering empty sake bottles from his mistresses desk.

"Oh come on, I couldn't resist. Turning most of the Konoha Shinobi's into ridiculous household objects. And then there was the need of a definite villain aside from all the normal sadist pain."

"Loopsey" Skrit mutters as he shoots a glare at a picture of Jiraiya-sama sitting on the desk. "And perverted now's too"

Lady Rouge starts typing her next chapter as you open the green book, ready to begin reading

"Nonsense. The only reason anyone has any reason to be offended is if they have a problem with the idea of a male courting another male"

"Like I said" the pygmy muttered. "Loopsey"

Skrit: (Disclaimer) My lady don'ts owns any of its. So don'ts Sue, or Skrit don'ts eat.

**Beauty and the Beast**

Naruto version

Chapter one: Enter the Beast

"Once upon a time..."

"Boring!"

"There was a beautiful maiden who fell in love"

"Ha. Love." Reclining back on his sun bleached divan, Crown Prince Naruto Uzumaki pouted at having finally been cornered. "What a stupid thing to feel!"

Gritting his teeth at his young master's reaction, the castle's chief story teller Mr. Iruka Umino shifted in his seat uncomfortably and tried his best to press on. The King had ordered that his son be entertained (detained) for the afternoon and had promptly set his poor storyteller at the task. Far be it from Iruka to question royal decree, but the prince however, well that had been a different story.

Not at all inclined to spend a beautiful Sunday afternoon in doors, the thirteen year old boy had poked his royal tongue out at the idea and took off at a sprint. What had followed was almost an hour of chasing the boy through corridors, across the gardens and along the walls, weaving between the masses of servants that were all scurrying about, trying to get the castle ready for the ball that was to take place later in the evening. When his charge finally decided to climb the balconies however Iruka had smile self satisfactorily, knowing that he finally had the boy pinned. Using a breed of skill the people of this country rarely possessed, he had leapt gracefully ahead of the boy, scaling the wall easily and collecting the young prince firmly by the collar.

He had deposited the sulky prince in his chambers not long after, and following a brief lecture, had settled down to tell the boy a story.

"Yes, love. With a dashingly handsome prince, A prince with-"

"Icy pale skin and red eyes"

Surprised, Iruka studied his young master's face. Was the boy just throwing the description in to ruin his story or did he actually want to be apart of it? Masked blue eyes stared back at him. It hadn't been said in spite.

Deciding to let the description slide he incorporated it into the story. It was a tad dark for his likings, but at least it meant that the boy was listening. It could stand to be a little romanticized however.

"Yes he was a raven with skin as pale as the snow moon in winter and eyes that burnt red with the fires of youth"

The young blond laughed at this last phrase and gave him a cheeky look.

"Jeeze Iruka, anyone would be thinking that master Gai was rubbing off on you, the way your speaking" he laughed again, as Iruka creased his nose and looked out the window into the palace gardens beyond. It wasn't hard to imagine the sight of the palaces green clad gardener leaping about the yard collecting leaves all the while yelling his lectures about 'springtime' and 'youth'. Thankfully though the man was nowhere to be seen.

The storyteller shifted again in his seat before correcting his choice of words.

"Red eyes that were as red as… an Autumn rose"

If either noticed that the red roses in the garden bloomed only in Spring, not in Autumn, neither voiced the fact.

"In fact, that was the Prince's name. Akizuki of the Autumn Moon. He was-"

"Strong and bold and his sword was known by the whole country for protecting them from war!"

"If you say so, my lord" Iruka conceded, interested in how far his young master would take the story. Prince Naruto rarely ever took real interest in his stories, and was usually content to just pretend to listen and try to sit still. Today however, he seemed full of inspiration and the story teller had to wonder for a moment if the descriptions now had been inspired by a worldly influence.

"Yeah, she fell in love with him because he was so strong, and he could kick butt! Cause the maiden, she could kick butt pretty good too, but you know the girl is always the one that needs saving"

"Your majesty, that a very unbecoming description for a woman."

The prince just laughed. "Oh come on Iruka, loosen up! Not every woman out there is an up themselves courtier"

"Crown Prince Naruto Uzumaki" Iruka chided, a little more harshly this time and dropping the boys full title to sober the mood. "You are almost thirteen summers old, and are next in line to the throne. There are ways a prince must speak, and ways a prince must not. Please have some responsibility"

"Yeah yeah, let's continue with the story then" Naruto huffed, tired of being reminded of his impending slavery to council and country. "What were we up to anyway?"

"I believe we were describing the strong spirited lady who was in love with Prince Akizuki my lord. A Beautiful girl with-"

"She was the opposite of the Prince" Naruto decided firmly. "She had yellow hair instead of black and her eyes were blue, the opposite to red"

Iruka found that he did not have to close his eyes to conjure an appearance for the girl. Instead, he imagined that she would look much like the young man who sat before him. Perhaps what the boys sister would have looked like had she been blessed with birth.

"Yeah she was opposite, and she was hated by everyone. People called her a witch and a monster and treated her like dirt! No one loved her. Not even Prince Akizuki. She was beyond love, so it didn't matter how much she loved him, he didn't feel it back."

The rose bush outside the window shuffled with the wind and stirred up a fragrance that tickled the men's noses. Naruto found the smell particularly pleasant. This was the only rose tree on the palace grounds, and was planted by his mother while she still lived. He felt it almost to be a special privilege that it grew right beside his own bedroom window, as his own treasured memory.

"She saved him one day though. From a pack of ferocious wolves" Naruto added, an almost pensive look on his face. When he said no more Iruka took this as his cue to continue.

"Akizuki had thought to go off by himself in a storm. He rode a horse proudly beneath him, and was not at all remorseful for ignoring his friend's council and running off. In fact he had left the castle clouded with anger, and faced his goal with the clear idea in his mind of never returning to his responsibility. But to do so, he had to pass through an evil forest. Sirens called to him from the trees and his enemies showed themselves shrouded in shadows, ready to strike at him and take what they lusted after the most. They saw fit to strip him of his power and his beauty, and render him nothing but a sightless beggar. There was a fierce battle during which many violations occurred, and eventually, the prince struck his opponent dead. But he was badly wounded and the blood called to the animals of the forest. The wolves in particular"

Prince Naruto, suddenly abandoned his seat in the sun to spring to his feet. With surprising speed he darted quickly to his study desk to take up his geometric ruler, brandishing it before him as if it were a might sword. With an actors expression he assumed the roll of the wounded Prince Akizuki striking into the air at the invisible wolves that surrounded him.

"They were everywhere! Ten, no! Fifteen! All snarling and bearing blood drenched fangs!" Naruto whirled around thrusting his sword at the invisible opponents with trained grace. By Iruka's count he had killed five already. "Akizuki fought with all the strength his body possessed! Until-"

The prince dropped to his knees with an actor's enthusiasm, drawing out the over-exaggerated moment for all it was worth before rolling into a feral crouched position and assuming a new role.

"She came in a streak of gold! and she took them on unarmed! She faced the leader of the pack, the strong alpha wolf, and she let out a challenge that shook the woods!"

"I don't think that is a very flattering description for a lady, my lord. And she would have to be armed with some form of weapon, for two gentle fists against a pack of grey wolves is absurd" Iruka interrupted. In his opinion, a story was always more enjoyable if you could derive realism from it's core.

"No no, she wasn't unarmed, she had claws! And she wasn't a maiden lady she was a monster remember! Tell me Iruka, you come from far away, lend a mythical beast from your eastern country for her part!"

The storyteller thought hard with a frown for a moment before shifting once again in his seat. "Well... We have no wolf beast in my land. But we do have the Kitsune. Fox sprits with many tails who can take the form of women"

"And who is the strongest of them all?" Naruto demanded, his eyes shining with glee as his whole being smiled.

Iruka smiled in turn, happy that his prince was deriving enjoyment from his storytelling. He had rarely seen him this animated since he was a very small child.

"The Kyuubi no Kitsune. The Ninetails. It is said they grow tails with age and wisdom, and the Kyuubi holds nine. Flicks of its tail will cause landslides and they are terrible tricksters. But still they are formidable beasts"

"The Kyuubi" Naruto breathed, as if the title itself demanded respect. "Yes, she was a Kyuubi Kitsune. That is why she was seen as a monster! She was bitter because she was shunned for so long so she hates humans, but Prince Akizuki is real to her. That's why she jumped in front of the wolves to protect him!"

"She must love him a lot, for dogs are the natural enemy of a Kitsune" Iruka added, thinking hard for any more information he could remember about the splendid beasts.

"No, leave love out of it!" Naruto exclaimed, reclaiming his actor's role and pretending his hands were clawed. "She realized that love was lost to her long ago, and she is a beast and knows not what it is! Now she was just defending someone who had acknowledged her! And with her strength she flew into fierce battle with the alpha!"

"And was mortally wounded" Iruka added. Naruto frowned at this addition, but let it flow none the less.

"Yes she was wounded. So badly it threatened her life. But still she defeated the wolves"

"At what price?"

Naruto frowned. "Must there be a price?"

"Always. There is always a price in the story my lord, for it sets the way for a happy ending"

"Then there isn't a happy ending" Naruto decided abruptly. "They can be star-crossed. A Prince can never love a beast and the Kitsune can never be happy without his love. So they can die for their folly"

"Prince Akizuki seems cold for a ruler" Iruka offered finally, as his master reclaimed his place on the sunny couch and gazed out the window, his hyper mood lost and the normal 'Crown Prince' back in place.

"No, just logical"

The story was finished. No more was said on it again. For Iruka, It was a sad tale that showed the cold insides of the boy he would rather not see. And for the Prince… It was just a nonsense story, although with a more realistic ending than most.

But for the third pair of ears that had heard the account it was a foundation.

A foundation for a curse that would bring him everything he wanted, and had hoped for since as far as his greedy mind could remember.

Yes.

This cynical tale could pave the road to suffering and he would not let it go to waste.

Not on such a day as today.

Not on the dear Kings birthday.


End file.
